Superman in the Post-Crisis Era (reviews by shaxper)
Sept 9, 2020 23:34:55 GMT -5
Roquefort Raider and SJNeal like this
Post by shaxper on Sept 9, 2020 23:34:55 GMT -5
Adventures of Superman Annual #3 (October 1991)
"Beyond the Reach of Time"
Script: Louise Simonson
Pencils: Bryan Hitch
Inks: James Sanders III (pages 1-14); Joe Rubinstein (pages 15-28); Bryan Hitch (pages 29-43, 47, 51-53); Ray McCarthy (pages 45,46,49); Nick Napolitano (pages 50,54); Jerry Acerno (pages 44,46); Dick Giordano (page 56)
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: John Costanza
Grade: C-
I remember seeing this one on the stands right after I'd quit reading the Superman titles and thinking this Maxima chick seemed like a pretty important established Superman villain. I'd been reading the comic faithfully for almost two years -- why didn't I know who she was?
Sure enough, though this story would have us think otherwise:
they've encountered each other exactly twice by this point. It's true that this story takes place in the near future, after Clark and Lois have married and conceived a child (more on that later), but even if we're talking two or three years from now, there is no indication in this story that Superman and Maxima ever crossed paths again after her one and only trip to Earth in pursuit of him.
Which leads to a larger problem -- Louise Simonson's continued lack of coordination with the rest of this office. I couldn't say whether the fault is her's, Carlin's, the rest of the Superman Office's, or maybe everyone is to blame, but signals get crossed once again.
It starts simply enough. In the present day, Clark begins to ask big questions about his relationship with Lois, raising concerns about their future together in his own mind.
This culminates in a trip to Antarctica (set in the very near future), where Clark and Lois finally take the time to sit down and discuss their relationship.
Kind of seems like Simonson was trying to connect this story to the (oops, already published) Superman #59, where Clark and Lois take some time to finally discuss such concerns atop Mount Fuji (Note: NOT Antarctica)
while being spied upon by a mysterious figure (the Linear woman in that issue; Waverider here). The stories are just too similar to ignore, and Superman #59 just saw print last month. Sure seems like lines got crossed somewhere.
But this is just the start.
See, the entire crux of this story is the idea that Clark and Lois want a child, and this pregnancy ultimately leads to Lois' death:
The idea that a super-powered fetus kicks Lois to death is clever, as is this tragedy ultimately leading Clark to the arms of Maxima, the one woman in the universe who can safely procreate with him, except for one minor glaring problem:
Clark and Lois already decided just three months ago that they didn't want children in Superman for Earth. And this was no casual exchange; it was sort of the culmination of the entire tpb.
Sure, couples can change their minds, but that was one hell of a 180 without any acknowledgment that they'd ever discussed the topic previously.
But wait. There's more.
Even putting aside the lack of coordination that irks me so thoroughly in an office that's otherwise been so tightly aligned, Simonson's writing itself is pretty clumsy here. Essentially, this entire 56 page story plays out like a run-of-the-mill RomCom flick.
The girl tries to con the guy, but she starts falling for her own con, her con gets exposed after she's developed true feelings, and she ultimately sacrifices everything to do what is right for love, fully expecting to ruin her chances with the guy forever. And, of course, once she stops seeking his love, she gets it.
I have nothing against a good romantic comedy, but this is pretty much as generic as they come, just with the looming destruction of the Earth added for flavor, and even Clark's last minute scramble to thwart that ends up silly, as the villain suddenly decides it's time to test the equipment before proceeding with annihilation:
He goes on to test it TWICE.
Really though, where I struggle most with this story is how it handles the underlying premise of Armageddon 2001, specifically how it justifies Waverider inspecting Superman's potential future for a third time. In Action Comics Annual #3, Roger Stern gave the reasonable excuse that Waverider had inadvertently changed Superman's future by exploring it in Superman Annual #3, giving Superman subconscious knowledge of the pitfalls ahead. Okay, that sort of works, so Waverider checks out Superman's future again, gets a different outcome, and then realizes he's accidentally given Superman knowledge of the future again by the end. Okay, that works too, but now we're on round #3, and Simonson does nothing to help convince us why Waverider would continue to do this with Superman.
So why does Waverider think this time is going to be any different?
In fact, if Superman didn't become Monarch in those past two futures, but Monarch did happen anyway, doesn't that mean it has to be someone else?
Of course, none of this gets considered at all and, at the close, Waverider just arbitrarily concludes that three is the magic number:
Though he was of a very different mindset at the start of this story:
Jeez. Superman checked out the first two times, but Waverider is ready to murder him right then and there if he becomes Monarch this third time. But he doesn't, so I guess he can't possibly become Monarch in a fourth potential future. That's solid logic.
So really, Simonson gave us a generic, misaligned story featuring a villain no one particularly cared about and utterly failed to pass the baton for what was once a really strong premise for a company-wide crossover. None of it was terrible, per se, but it was a disappointment on pretty much every level.
Important Details:
- Clark is apparently capable of conceiving a child with a human woman with the help of experimental fertility pills.
Minor Details:
- Cute Clark and Lois moment of the issue:
Both an endearing nod to the Chris Reeves films and an awareness that the relationship here has progressed so much further.
- I guess it makes sense that Clark could go into space exile a second time if life got bad enough:
A nice nod to folks who have been around since the original Exile storyline.
- "Vulnerable to the vacuum of space" should mean eyes popping out of head and full depressurizing, Louise:
- Bryan Hitch's work here isn't consistently on the level of a Jurgens, Ordway, or Grummett, but he has a few truly fine moments in this issue:
Why can't we have this guy on Man of Steel?
"Beyond the Reach of Time"
Script: Louise Simonson
Pencils: Bryan Hitch
Inks: James Sanders III (pages 1-14); Joe Rubinstein (pages 15-28); Bryan Hitch (pages 29-43, 47, 51-53); Ray McCarthy (pages 45,46,49); Nick Napolitano (pages 50,54); Jerry Acerno (pages 44,46); Dick Giordano (page 56)
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: John Costanza
Grade: C-
I remember seeing this one on the stands right after I'd quit reading the Superman titles and thinking this Maxima chick seemed like a pretty important established Superman villain. I'd been reading the comic faithfully for almost two years -- why didn't I know who she was?
Sure enough, though this story would have us think otherwise:
they've encountered each other exactly twice by this point. It's true that this story takes place in the near future, after Clark and Lois have married and conceived a child (more on that later), but even if we're talking two or three years from now, there is no indication in this story that Superman and Maxima ever crossed paths again after her one and only trip to Earth in pursuit of him.
Which leads to a larger problem -- Louise Simonson's continued lack of coordination with the rest of this office. I couldn't say whether the fault is her's, Carlin's, the rest of the Superman Office's, or maybe everyone is to blame, but signals get crossed once again.
It starts simply enough. In the present day, Clark begins to ask big questions about his relationship with Lois, raising concerns about their future together in his own mind.
This culminates in a trip to Antarctica (set in the very near future), where Clark and Lois finally take the time to sit down and discuss their relationship.
Kind of seems like Simonson was trying to connect this story to the (oops, already published) Superman #59, where Clark and Lois take some time to finally discuss such concerns atop Mount Fuji (Note: NOT Antarctica)
while being spied upon by a mysterious figure (the Linear woman in that issue; Waverider here). The stories are just too similar to ignore, and Superman #59 just saw print last month. Sure seems like lines got crossed somewhere.
But this is just the start.
See, the entire crux of this story is the idea that Clark and Lois want a child, and this pregnancy ultimately leads to Lois' death:
The idea that a super-powered fetus kicks Lois to death is clever, as is this tragedy ultimately leading Clark to the arms of Maxima, the one woman in the universe who can safely procreate with him, except for one minor glaring problem:
Clark and Lois already decided just three months ago that they didn't want children in Superman for Earth. And this was no casual exchange; it was sort of the culmination of the entire tpb.
Sure, couples can change their minds, but that was one hell of a 180 without any acknowledgment that they'd ever discussed the topic previously.
But wait. There's more.
Even putting aside the lack of coordination that irks me so thoroughly in an office that's otherwise been so tightly aligned, Simonson's writing itself is pretty clumsy here. Essentially, this entire 56 page story plays out like a run-of-the-mill RomCom flick.
The girl tries to con the guy, but she starts falling for her own con, her con gets exposed after she's developed true feelings, and she ultimately sacrifices everything to do what is right for love, fully expecting to ruin her chances with the guy forever. And, of course, once she stops seeking his love, she gets it.
I have nothing against a good romantic comedy, but this is pretty much as generic as they come, just with the looming destruction of the Earth added for flavor, and even Clark's last minute scramble to thwart that ends up silly, as the villain suddenly decides it's time to test the equipment before proceeding with annihilation:
He goes on to test it TWICE.
Really though, where I struggle most with this story is how it handles the underlying premise of Armageddon 2001, specifically how it justifies Waverider inspecting Superman's potential future for a third time. In Action Comics Annual #3, Roger Stern gave the reasonable excuse that Waverider had inadvertently changed Superman's future by exploring it in Superman Annual #3, giving Superman subconscious knowledge of the pitfalls ahead. Okay, that sort of works, so Waverider checks out Superman's future again, gets a different outcome, and then realizes he's accidentally given Superman knowledge of the future again by the end. Okay, that works too, but now we're on round #3, and Simonson does nothing to help convince us why Waverider would continue to do this with Superman.
So why does Waverider think this time is going to be any different?
In fact, if Superman didn't become Monarch in those past two futures, but Monarch did happen anyway, doesn't that mean it has to be someone else?
Of course, none of this gets considered at all and, at the close, Waverider just arbitrarily concludes that three is the magic number:
Though he was of a very different mindset at the start of this story:
Jeez. Superman checked out the first two times, but Waverider is ready to murder him right then and there if he becomes Monarch this third time. But he doesn't, so I guess he can't possibly become Monarch in a fourth potential future. That's solid logic.
So really, Simonson gave us a generic, misaligned story featuring a villain no one particularly cared about and utterly failed to pass the baton for what was once a really strong premise for a company-wide crossover. None of it was terrible, per se, but it was a disappointment on pretty much every level.
Important Details:
- Clark is apparently capable of conceiving a child with a human woman with the help of experimental fertility pills.
Minor Details:
- Cute Clark and Lois moment of the issue:
Both an endearing nod to the Chris Reeves films and an awareness that the relationship here has progressed so much further.
- I guess it makes sense that Clark could go into space exile a second time if life got bad enough:
A nice nod to folks who have been around since the original Exile storyline.
- "Vulnerable to the vacuum of space" should mean eyes popping out of head and full depressurizing, Louise:
- Bryan Hitch's work here isn't consistently on the level of a Jurgens, Ordway, or Grummett, but he has a few truly fine moments in this issue:
Why can't we have this guy on Man of Steel?